Stop and Stare
by keep-me-posted
Summary: Hiccup and Astrid have a staring contest, and he's almost positive she's been cheating.  HTTYD OneShot.


**Hey guys, got another story for you! And, though it is a Hiccup/Astrid story, it's kinda lacking in fluff. I had this story idea for a while, but the plot for it kept changing. And the ending changed [hopefully for the better]. Uhm, I hope the story doesn't seem too rushed. It's different, I think. But I like trying new things. Hope I didn't go too out of character for this couple. And, it's not really all that long. It's just a lot of dialog. Lol, okay, so it's kinda late and I'm rambling. So, yeah, thanks for reading, lol. :]**

**I do not own HTTYD.**

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Hiccup stared his girlfriend down. "Give up, Hofferson."

Astrid shook her head, her eyes never leaving the boy's in front of her. "Not a chance."

"You know I'm gonna beat you, so you might as well forfeit. Save yourself the embarrassment."

"This coming from the guy whose about to lose for the third time in a row."

"The first two did not count!" Hiccup spoke up, making sure not to blink. "Those interruptions were unfair."

Astrid scoffed. "Pfft, that's just loser talk."

"If not for those interferences to the game, I'd have won."

"Staring contests don't have "interferences". Just because you blink every time someone shows up, doesn't mean you get an automatic retry."

"You're only saying that because they never happen to-"

"Hey, Hiccup!" Ruffnut said, popping out of no where behind Hiccup. Surprised, the boy whisked his head around, blinking in the process. The girl twin wrapped her arms around him in a hug, grinning. Then she was gone.

Hiccup's eyes were wide and his mouth was agape. Astrid sat on the other side of the table, smirking. "Let me guess...you want to try again."

"Yes," He nodded furiously. "Because that is exactly what I'm talking about!"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, one more game. But you're wasting your time." She planted her hands on the table and stared her eyes at his, just across the way.

They stared in silence for a few minutes, when suddenly Hiccup brought his finger up, pointing it accusingly at his girlfriend. "You planned that, didn't you?"

"Planned what?"

"Ruffnut coming in here to hug me..._during_ our staring contest."

Astrid scoffed. "I had nothing to do with that. It's just Ruff. She's like madly in love with you or something." She slightly shook her head. "Poor girl."

Hiccup obviously knew that wasn't true, of course. Ruffnut couldn't stand him, which she proved by tackling him every chance she got; even if he just merely glanced her way. Not to mention that he knew her and Snotlout where kinda a thing, after he had accidentally walked in on them making out on more than one occasion. The boy shuddered.

"You know, just because it's a staring contest, doesn't mean you can stare into oblivion and get away with it. Your mind has to be present, _along_ with your eyes."

Hiccup shook his head, making sure not to blink, and came back to reality. "Sorry."

"What were you doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Daydreaming about Ruff?"

The corner of his mouth perked up, as an idea brewed in his mind. "Yeah, that's it. After all, she is available, right?"

Surprised at the turn the conversation made, Astrid squinted her eyes. "Which is more than you can say."

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders. "You don't mind, do you?"

She just stared. But not just to keep up with the game.

"Jealous, maybe?" He gave a sly grin.

Suddenly, Astrid got it. Hiccup was trying to make her jealous, so she'd blink and lose. _Oh, he's good,_ She thought. _But not _that_ good._

"Yeah, sure."

His eyes burst open. "What?"

"I said, sure, Hiccup," She answered, plainly. "You wanna date Ruffnut? Go on ahead. Why should I care?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend!" He nearly shouted. "That's why!"

_Yep, just not that good._ Astrid laughed. "Chill, I was just kidding. Just like you were?" She tilted her head.

Hiccup sighed. "Okay, okay, you got me." He paused. "How's about a deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"No more tricking and no more interferences," He replied. "Let's just make this a regular old staring contest."

"But I didn't have to do with that inter-" Astrid tried.

He held out his hand, his eyes still on her's. "Deal?"

She almost risked the game wanting to roll her eyes, but she stayed firm and shook the young man's hand. "Deal." _Bo-ring._

After staring for about ten minutes, Astrid started to get bored. It wasn't that Hiccup was better at this game, he was just more patient. Unlike herself. She'd known she promised to keep the game simple, but she couldn't resist adding a little something to it.

Being on their fourth round, they'd probably, all together, been staring at each other for over an hour. That being the most time Astrid's ever spent on staring at Hiccup's eyes [as usually he would turn away blushing almost immediately] she actually got a chance to really, really look at them.

She loved his eyes. But she'd never dare tell him that out loud...unless a victory was at stake.

"Hiccup," Astrid spoke up, breaking the silence. "You know, you have the most gorgeous eyes."

Surprised, Hiccup blinked.

"Ha!" She clapped her hands.

He groaned. "Cheat!"

"What?"

"You just cheated."

"By what? Talking?" She asked. "Is that a new rule I wasn't aware of?"

"You called my eyes gorgeous!"

"They _are_ gorgeous," Astrid protested. She felt a blush form over her cheeks.

"And you chose just now to say that, hmm?" Hiccup insisted. "Knowing full well how I would react?"

"We've been staring at each other for a long time, Hiccup. I just thought I'd point out what I've been thinking for the past hour," She said, only slightly lying.

"Well, then, I might as well tell you that you have gorgeous eyes, too!" He yelled.

Astrid blinked in shock. "Really?"

"Darn, I should have waited to say that during the next round."

She playfully punched his arm. "What ever happened to no tricks?"

"Well, it's obvious you weren't listening to that rule," Hiccup pointed out. "In fact, I bet you had to do with all three of those interruptions."

"What interruptions?"

"Snotlout asking to borrow my hammer? Or Fishlegs asking how to pronounce a certain word?" He said, listing off on his fingers. He paused. "I mean, really. Come on...Fishlegs? Needing help with _reading_? And then there's the whole Ruffnut thing."

"I told you that was all her."

"Well, what about the other two?"

"What about them?" Astrid questioned.

"Well, you didn't exactly deny that you had anything to do with them."

"I didn't exactly confess, either."

The couple stared at each other for a short while, even though the game was already over. Their mouths started to curl up in slight scowls, like a dragon just noticing the tail of an eel hiding away in their basket of Icelandic cod.

"Alright, fine. We'll just assume all of those disturbances were sheer coincidence," Hiccup gave a fake shrug.

"Right."

He sighed. He wasn't really a sore loser, he just didn't like playing games that involved cheating. Especially if it made him lose. "It's just...all very coincidental, don't you think? All those interferences showing up around the same time," Hiccup admitted. "Even Toothless, the king of distractions, hasn't interrupted this game yet. And he's right over there!" He pointed his finger to the far corner of the room, where the Night Fury was sleeping soundly by the fire, his tail curled up, so his one fin was covering his face.

She gave him a mere shrug. If Astrid was behind it, she'd never admit it. Even Hiccup knew that.

"So, are you gonna say it?"

"Say what?" He asked.

"I've just beat you four times in a row. You've got to say the line."

The stubborn viking huffed, resting his chin on his hand.

"Come on," Astrid poked his arm. "Say it. Say, "Astrid you're the all-time champ and I'm the all-time chump"."

"Oh, I'll tell you what I'll say," Hiccup started, his voice rising. "Astrid Hofferson, you are a chea-"

Knowing exactly what he was getting ready to say, she quickly leaned over the table, and pressed her lips firmly against the boy's.

"-Winner," Hiccup finished, when the kiss had finally ended.

She leaned back into her seat, smiling.

"So," He started, after his cheeks had a chance to cool down. "Best four outta five?"

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**In my original ending for this, I had them start another round and Astrid would make a quick wink out the window to Tuffnut, who would be all ready to be the next distraction for Hiccup to lose again. But, instead, I thought I'd just tell you here that: Yes, she is the one responsible for the interruptions.**

**It's not that Astrid's a cheater, she just likes to mess with Hiccup; you know. :P Anyways, thanks again for reading. Comments [or should I say reviews?] are love.**


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